Nature vs. Nurture

Nature versus Nurture The nature versus nurture debate has been one that has been around for centuries. This debate was spawned from the idea that nature and nurture are both pieces of the human puzzle. Are we as humans shaped because of our genes only or are we influenced by our peers and environment? The opinion of this writer is that a person is who he or she is based on both principals of nature and nurture.
Personal Thoughts My thoughts on nature and nurture have never been explored until now. I have always assumed that I am who I am because God made me this way. Now that I have learned a bit more about this debate, I find that I am a product of both nature and nurture. I am tall, have brown hair, wear glasses, and speak with a country accent because of my gene structure given to me by my parents. The way that I act and my thought processes come from influences in my environment and the teachings of my family. “We are a product of nature and nurture, but we are also an open system” (Myers, pg. 167). This means that even though genes and culture are influences in a person’s overall structure, a person can defy each. For example, as a teenager, I was always pressured to go with the crowd and conform to their ways of thinking and acting. I wanted so badly to fit in and found it difficult because I was tall, lanky, and had acne which was all given to me by my nature or genetic structure. Growing up in a smaller town, teenage drinking was a pressure of my social group and while I knew it would be the “thing to do”, I opposed what culture was telling me was okay. I chose not to go with the crowd and for that, I enjoyed my high school experience in my own way. I was taught by my parents the consequences of right and wrong and knew that making such choices were wrong for me which was instilled in me through the nurture part of my makeup.…...

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...Describe the basic elements of the nature-nurture controversy.
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... nature Vs nurture
Nature versus nurture have a many articles. Nature Versus nurture include inherited genes or the environmental influences and effects that develop our personality whether our behavior , or ability or our intelligence. Autism in children is a subject that can be clarified by nature or nurture.
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Firstly, many autistic children have obstruction issues in a language, social, and behavioral issues. So, we have to understand the communication and social challenges experienced by children with autism. (Wetherby and Prizant , 2000).
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...Since the beginning of recorded time one has been told that ‘you have your mothers eyes’ or ‘You’re tall like your father’ and it has been accepted that humans inherit their appearance traits from their parents, however where does one get their talent for hockey, their intelligence, or their habits; does one learn these from their environment or were they programmed by genetics? Well this brings to light the age old debate of nature vs. nurture.
The Nature and Nurture debate stems into many areas that make humans what they are, with one of those factors being their religion, and when examining religion it is found that nurture trumps nature in shaping the beliefs of oneself. Since the Ancient Egyptians and even before (Mesopotamians) religion and spirituality have existed, there has been a consensual acceptance that there is a God, and when one closes their eyes for the last time, they become one with God, or in some cases; the devil or the ‘netherworld’. Through those times and the times of the Catholic church according to world renowned psychologist Dr Olivera Petrovich; “Religion has become the natural state-it is now hard wired by families into babies brains, it is atheism that is learned”. She bases the mantra of religion being parental based on a study of four hundred B.C. children of different faiths, and many aged four-six Japanese children. When asking all of these children about their faith they all without any guidance from their parents say they believe in......

...The Impact of Nature and Nurture on Human Life
Name
School
September 24, 2013
Introduction
Most educated people have probably heard of the terms nature and nurture before. The thing most people do not realize is how big an impact each of these makes on all of us. This paper will discuss the impact that nature and nurture have on human development. Nature and nurture are two words used to describe the development of humans. There has been an on going debate in psychology to whether heredity or the environment most impacts human psychological development. Many believe that they go hand in hand because one affects the other. Nature is a word used to describe the genes given to each child by their parents. Nurture is described as how children are affected by their surrounding environment. This paper will discuss the topics of how development may be different depending on where you live, the effect of nature and nurture on stress, behavioral genetics, give a summary of the points and then a conclusion.
Environment
Ones environment impacts nurture. The type of environment one is in can include anything from what type of house to what city, and even what country is lived in. A person who grew up in a big city will have a very different nurture than someone who grew up in the Amish lifestyle. Not that one or the other is better; they are just completely different environments. An article by Carol McNamara explains how a combination of nature and nurture are how......

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...The psychological debate of nature vs. nurture is one that has been deliberated and refuted for many years. This debate is so controversial because although it is fact that genetic makeup does play a major role in developing a person, the nurture and environment in which a person is brought up in is also an important factor. The nature vs. nurture issue dates back to Ancient Greeks, through the times of Aristotle and John Locke, with each philosopher projecting their own individual thoughts on the matter. Although nature depicts the development of a person in terms of their appearance and certain personality traits, nature and the setting and situations in which a person grows up is more important in explaining the development of a person because ultimately a person is an overall reflection of the environment of which they were brought up in.
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There have always been disputes on whether the decision to be homosexual or heterosexual was based on biological or environmental factors. These disputes are known as the Nature vs. Nurture argument. The two sides argue over how gender is chosen within a person. Based on reproductive organs, sex is easily determined at birth: male or female. Gender, however; is the sexual identity an individual takes on. It is possible for sex and gender to be different.
For an example of nurture children who were both born with an injured or damaged reproductive organ, males usually can be raised successfully as females. In order to understand which factor is the deciding factor of a person’s gender, both sides of the case must be fully evaluated. DNA studies which appear to prove that gender is a genetic trait. Researchers have analyzed the makeup of the human brain of homosexuals and heterosexuals seeking a connection between gender and the brains physiology. They found when studying the part of the brain directly related to a persons’ sexual drive, that homosexuals had an enlarged hypothalamus, whereas heterosexuals had a normal one indicating a direct correlation between the brain and gender selections (AllPsych).
In researching DNA’s role in gender identity, some scientist have identified the gene that determines a person’s sexual preference. Although there are mounting evidence of the existence of a “gay...

...Nature vs. Nurture
There is an issue that has been conferred upon by philosophers in the past and still so by scientists today. This issue is whether heredity or environment plays a greater role in the determining or shaping of an individual's behavior. It is known as the nature versus nurture debate.
Numerous generations before us have deliberated on the reasons behind the development of human behavior. There have been many theories formulated to explain why humans behave the way they do. The surviving theories for behavior derive from physiological and sociological explanations. However, the two explanations have not always been compatible with each other. The famous nature vs. nurture debate over human behavior resulted from conflicting views between proponents of the physiological (nature) and sociological (nurture) explanations. Throughout history, research has swayed popularity back and forth between the theories. Yet, theorists have broken down the line separating nature and nurture. As of today, people utilize both explanations to explore human behavior.
Way before our time, early philosophers endeavored to understand the human behavior. As early as 350 BC, such philosophers as Plato and Aristotle tried to understand behavior. The question of nature or nurture as the primary drive can be traced to these times. Plato believed behavior and knowledge was due to innate factors. Author Fiona Cowie states, "The claim that the character of our mental furniture is......

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The Studies
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The nature vs nurture debate has been a raging topic for decades now. It has caused much controversy in justifying human characteristics, especially concerning the defense of criminal behavior. Many people believe that our actions and conduct comes from the genes we possess, and that we are born with a higher likelihood to act in certain ways. Others believe that our behavior is a result of our childhood, and how we are brought up. Extensive research has been done on the nature vs nurture debate. Although both nature and nurture ultimately affect one’s behavioral characteristics, it seems nurture has a much greater impact. So, is our behavior affected by our heredity and genes, or by the environment we grow up in?
What is nature? “Nature is your genes. The physical and personality traits determined by your genes stay the same irrespective of where you were born and raised” ("Nature vs Nurture." Diffen.com. Diffen LLC, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2014). Taking in the consideration of I.Q., studies prove that genetics has a great effect. Adopted siblings have no more similar of an I.Q. than strangers, while blood related siblings have an I.Q. correlation of .6. Twins especially, having an I.Q. correlation of .86 (Nancy,L. Same-Age Unrelated Siblings: A Unique Test of Within-Family Environmental Influences on IQ Similarity. Journal of Educational Psychology. 1997 June; 89(2): 381-390.)
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Nature vs Nurture
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...Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture
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BUS318: Organizational Behavior
Professor Thomas Tonkin
May 25, 2015
Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture
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...NATURE V.S. NURTURE
The Nature vs. Nurture debate is one of the oldest and most commonly debated psychological conflicts around. Arguments from both sides on this subject are hard to dispute. Whether it is in our DNA or it was predisposition it’s hard to agree or disagree with either stand-point being that they both offer interesting and intriguing views that are insightful, informative and unfortunately unfounded. With that being said it’s still an argument that will continue to stand the test of time and continually be debated for centuries down the road until a definitive explanation can be fathomed.
Nature vs. Nurture is a phrase for the long-standing controversy as to the relative influences of genetics versus the environment in the development of personality traits. Nature is represented by instincts and genetic influences and nurture by social influences and environment.
The Nature part of this debate is influenced by the idea that we get our traits and characteristics from our DNA and nowhere else. It is easy to ascertain and prove that we get our physical traits such as eye color, hair color, height and otherphysical traits from DNA. The unknown is whether we get our more abstract traits from DNA like character, intelligence, sexuality and preferences to likes or dislikes.
The Nurture side of this is debatea agrees that genetic influence is a key factor in the abstract physical traits but nothing more. It also goes on saying that the environment that......

...Nature vs. Nurture
When looking at the nature and nurture debate, overall, I believe that our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions as humans are more strongly influenced by our environment, or nurtured. However, looking from the other point of view, that they are influenced by nature is also very plausible. In general, the reason that the nurtured makes most sense to me, is that the environment everyone grows up in (which is what influences us, obviously,) is so varied from person to person. What is natural to someone from Sweden, will not be natural to an individual in India, or the U.S., or Argentina. Another great example of variance, which is very applicable to me since I am training to be and working as a chef, is the principal of taste aversion. This was discovered by John Garcia along with other researcher. In taste aversion, foods can give certain people bad thoughts via taste or other consequences from the food, where as others may love the same particular food. When I cook food for friends or family, even though I love it, my sister may despise it, while my parents also enjoy it. There is a variance from person to person and thoughts, behaviors, and feelings can influence a persons rationale even though their environment has been relatively identical to another person with a different rational. The environment of each individual is different, so it makes most sense that individuals are nurtured as opposed to having a natural rationale. A type of social learning, is...

...The start of this paper I think the best place to look is to the bible for what it says about our human nature as well as how nurturing plays a part inside the life of a person. When we look to the bible for understanding of human nature we are lead to see that our human nature is one of sin and death. Looking at Romans 8:13 for an example of this to quote part of it “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die” this tells us that if we live by our human nature that it will only lead to death. However if we finish reading the verse it also says “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” this gives us hope that if we live by the Spirit there is hope in life. Furthermore we can see answers for how nurturing plays a key part inside our lives. Inside the bible we can see a lot of examples of what the bible says about nurturing a child to adult to bring them up right and proper. The best example I have found is inside Ephesians 6:4 to quote it says “bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord”. This is a great example of how to raise a kid inside a household.
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...Running head: NATURE VS. NURTURE/CULTURE
The Ongoing Debate of Nature vs. Nurture/Culture
Psychology 3520
Social Psychology
Abstract
In compiling information from our class text and a variety of journals in the Capella library, I have come up with some interest notions on the age old controversy of nature vs. nurture. Biologists declare nature as an innate trait given to all human being (e.g., reflexes and primary needs). Which makes us consider, is this all there is to human development? Is there something else at work? Are there other factors that play a key role in our development? At this turn we must consider nurture/culture. We as human beings are born into societies with all sorts of set norms, social structures and attitudes that manipulate the way in which we develop. The question we will be looking at is which one of these, nature or nurture has the most significant role in our overall development. Or is there yet still something else to add to the pot. Some say there are dimensions that intersect and work in conjunction with one another to form who we are as humans being. Viktor Frankl (1967) noted that the person lives in three interpenetrating dimensions: soma (the physical body), psyche (the emotions and intellect), and the noëtic (the soul). The noëtic dimension includes free will, responsibility, choice, spirituality, and the unique meaning capacity of Homo sapiens. Is it time to reinvent the wheel: Nature, Nurture and Noetic?
Introduction......